In The Firing Line
by Rainstorm Amaya Arianrhod
Summary: Holly is a civilian now. She should not be in the firing line. But Sool slipped up, and just once, she was, with unexpected consequences...
1. Someone's Mistake

**A/N: One Holly/Trouble multichapter. Enjoy! And PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

**The Firefight**

**It was a firefight- for once, a firefight that did not set Holly Short's adrenaline running. Holly, in fact, should not have been there, and this was why she had no gun- she was a private detective, a civilian, and she should not have been permitted past the unmoving line of green riot shields.**

**The perimeter had been secured, and most civilians were not out, but Holly had been returning late from work and somehow nobody saw her in the shadows of the dark street until it was too late.**

**Shoddy work was to blame for this. A sweep should have been done of the area, and all civilians cleared out as the streets were cordoned off and the radios should have broadcast warnings to stay away from Lime Tree Square, but not one of these actions was carried out, even though the commander should have supervised them. Not one of the unfortunate officers loyal to the steadily decaying LEP who had tried to do the parts of Sool's paperwork, which the great man himself had dismissed as too menial, had the authority to clear any of those vital actions- and as a result, Holly Short was in danger. Nor had any attention been paid to Foaly and Major Trouble Kelp's warnings that the yobs they were now about to fight were armed and dangerous. Sool had slipped up.**

**Holly crossed the square, stepping off the kerb. The first signs that anything was wrong –tiny, almost imperceptible- showed themselves to Holly; the distinct click of a phosphorus rifle being primed, the slight movements of figures in the darkness. Eyes jumping like bubbles in a kettle, Holly moved out of the light, reverting to her LEP training, still fresh in her mind after nine months as a civilian.**

**The first shot was fired. It streaked past Holly and hit the dark green, invisible till now, LEP riot shields, a scrawl of blazing white lighting up the night. **

**For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence. Then, more shots were fired, more and then more, scorching riot shields and buildings, black signatures. Holly pressed herself against a tree, hiding in its shadow as LEP officers grappled with the insurgents. Her fingers scrabbled for a gun, a buzz baton, and found nothing.**

**From her shaded vantage point, Holly saw a bazooka of some kind. Were they planning to blast through the shields? That would kill the officers behind them... Or perhaps the buildings, which would kill civilians... Then, her stomach dropped with a sickening thud. They were aiming them at the greenery in the centre of the square. Or perhaps they are going to commit some grand-scale arson, which could do both... she thought. Oh, glory.**

**Still Holly waited while bush after bush and tree after tree was torched, burning them out of the ground with less respect for living, green things than might be expected. But eventually, as the scant cover provided by the tree grew ever less among the blazing beacons beside her, and the bazooka was turned on the tree, Holly had to bolt for it, diving out and away, rolling and landing on her feet as the inevitable white streak roared past her, ruffling her reddish hair.**

**Then, of course, the stray taser shot hit her.**


	2. Collateral Damage

A/N: Review or I won't post the next chapter. There are 2 more to go... I won't add more to that unless I get 20 reviews and a flash of inspiration. For now, I'd like 10 reviews... is it really that much to ask!

Disclaimer: These aren't my characters... I'm just making sure they don't get a decent night's sleep...

A intravenous drip fed nutrition into Holly's veins, dull, lychee-white, to go with the walls and squeaky linoleum floor. A hundred machines, each with its own, distinctive, infuriating beep, watched over her, as did a white-suited medic, who was thoroughly interested in her patient, with her attendant firebrand history, but, if truth be told, she was wondering more how a girl soldier had managed to acquire such an assiduous admirer. Holly would have told the nurse that she needed her own medicines, but it was true.

Trouble, of all the officers, had caught sight of Holly and sent word that a civilian was caught in the line of fire. He had known it was Holly when she stepped into the lamplight. The catlike stance and red hair gave her away. His fingers tightened on the helmet he had removed in conjunction with hospital regulations as he recalled the message Sool had sent back: two words only- _collateral damage_. Holly, whose flawless information had won Sool the coups of the past nine months without so much as a brief acknowledgement, was collateral damage.

From his command post he had seen Holly hurtle out from underneath the tree's cover and hoped she would not get hit. You don't watch someone's career, cover for them in a firefight, know they would do the same for you, patrol, and play crunchball regularly with someone without knowing them well, and caring for them. He had watched her be hit by that taser rifle shot; seen her head go back and her whole body go flying, backwards into a glass window; seen her head hit the shop counter.

The cuts, the tiny thin scars, where the glass had sliced her, were nearly healed although Holly had not been running hot. However, she wouldn't wake up.


	3. Sool SlipUp

**A/N: I'm sorry it's so late! Damn to hell for not letting me update. Still, at least I haven't abandoned this story (why would I? I've already written the last chapter!) . Many thanks to my reviewers who put up with my short chapters- we can't all be fourteen-page-chapter genii! **

**Disclaimer: Oh, SIGH.Do you people REALLY think I am Eoin Colfer? Let not those words pass your lips, else you won't know what hit you (for the sake of clarity, it was quite probably aLatin textbook.**

The nurse sighed. She had been sitting here for three hours straight, and she was bored, kicking her feet against the plastic of her roller chair and scooting across the corridor. At one point she had been assiduously observing a spider above her. Suddenly, a junior nurse scurried up to her, a faintly pitying look on her face. "Here," she said, and passed the nurse an article. The headline was SOOL SLIP-UP CAUSES SHORT INJURY, and the pictures were one of Holly, a close-up of her then-lacerated face, a faint frown on her featuresfrom the side as she lay in hospital captioned 'Ex-Captain Holly Short, now a private investigator, after being caught in the crossfire', and the horrible blunt-nosed grey-barrelled taser rifles, captioned 'These weapons, cannibalized phosphorus rifles, have been seized by Major Kelp's team from the insurgents'. The nurse blinked and looked a little closer:

'_Ex-LEPrecon Captain Holly Short was caught in the centre of a firefight between LEP officers and gang insurgents wielding cannibalized phosphorus rifles (see above). "Miss Short will be fine," a medic told us. "She is, however, currently suffering from possible concussion, several lacerations and three broken ribs. We would therefore appreciate it if media attention was not concentrated on us as we attempt to heal Miss Short." It emerges that the area was not properly searched for civilians beforehand, nor were calls put out on any of the Haven radio stations, hence Ms. Short's accident. All these precautions were the responsibility of controversial LEP Reconaissance Commander Sool, who was unavailable for comment. "We are absolutely furious," Councilwoman Wing Commander Vinyaya told us. "Holly should have been warned, as should the residents of that area. Radio transcripts dismiss Ms. Short's accidental appearance as 'collateral damage' and mention no remorse or any attempts to permit her to escape. Warning reports on the condition of the gang's weapons and strength have been found in filing cabinets tagged –disgustingly- 'forget'. Quite apart from the injuries sustained by Ms. Short, this is an outrage of the kind that cannot go unpunished."**' **_

The nurse (her name was Olive) peered in at the door, wondering if she should tell her colleagues that she, Olive Bark, had a famous patient or, perhaps, just leave the article artfully displayed on the rickety plastic table across the corridor, and decided on the latter. Meanwhile, she went for a coffee and a flapjack, leaving Trouble and the unconscious Holly entirely to their own devices. Neither noticed, though: Trouble, because he was busy seething mentally, and Holly... well, Holly was unconscious, and not in a position to notice anything at all.


	4. Conclusion

A/N: This last chapter (sniff! sob!) is dedicated to Nelarun, that most faithful of all reviewers. Enough said, I think. If you enjoyed this story (all four chapters of it!) please read and review Karma and On The Subject Of Skiving. A few reviews here wouldn't go amiss either... But the reviewers I have already! You are wonderful! I hope to see your collective presences on the review pages of any other stories.

Disclaimer: Oh for the heavens' SAKE. This is the last chapter, can't you give me a break? No? FINE. Nothing here belongs to me. Except Maple and Tiamat.

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Trouble had realized some five minutes ago that lunch hour was nearly over. He half-rose, then settled down again, deciding that if he could face Sool for not shooting Holly, he could face him for making a hospital visit. He knew that there were only a few other people who would visit Holly, and of them he was the only one with any time on his hands- or even permission to visit. Mulch had been banned when his disgraceful hygiene was discovered. Of the LEP girls –and there were only five- those on the vice squad had been forbidden for the sakes of their careers (even though it had annoyed one young elf so much she finally cracked and threw a paperweight at Chix when he asked her out for the umpteenth time), Frond would never bother to come and Tiamat Neon, the only Retrieval captain, was severely tied up on the surface, although she would happily risk her job. Vein, the first dunker on the crunchball team who'd worked quite closely with Holly as Holly had been second dunker, was tied up because Sool was Not Happy with him. Trouble thought- no, he knew –that this was because Vein had been the unfortunate soldier who had to carry the message of Holly's involvement to Sool. Foaly was dealing with a mass computer crash at Police Plaza. Sool had told him he could not leave the Ops booth at allunless every computer was up and running. Trouble suspected a certain, four-legged techie was responsible, but it did mean that Foaly wasn't going anywhere for a bit.Chix had been banned by Mulch. So Trouble was the only one who could sit here.

This in mind, Trouble had called Maple and persuaded Maple to cover for him. So now he sat patiently, and waited.

Trouble looked at Holly. There appeared to be no change; Holly's breathing remained steady, the purple bruises on her shoulders unchanging. The scars caught his attention, and carefully he traced a calloused finger along each, allowing blue sparks to heal the marks fully.

He had done all the scars on Holly's face before a voice croaked: "You know, Trouble, that feels nice, but an explanation would be even better. Have you got one?"

Startled, Trouble looked at Holly. Tired eyes were open and the ghost of that unholy grin glittered at the corners of her mouth.

One of Holly's eyelids dipped. Trouble's own eyes widened as he recognised the gesture: Holly had winked at him.

_A scene occurred to his memory. A short, ruddy-headed corporal holding a paintball pistol in one slim hand stood in front of her red-faced commander on a rocky beach. A green-clad captain holding a camera behind the commander looked at the promising young corporal, considered, and made a decision. The captain winked, and thereby (and this would make him quite unpopular if ever this werediscovered)started a chain of events that would turn his life, the LEP and everything he thought he knew about Mud Men, girl elves, piloting a shuttle and Haven upside-down._

Trouble took a deep breath. "Just this, Holly," he whispered, and kissed her.


End file.
